Does anyone know of reliable low cost LMSes?

Also, what is the average cost of a low cost LMS? How much is it per user, per year?

I've seen that most big LMS companies charge well over $100 per user, per year, but wanted to find out from other folks how much they are paying.

Also, do most LMS companies make you pay the same fee per user every year for as long as you use the system? For example, do you own the LMS and pay a one time fee or do you "rent" it as you need it?

Would appreciate the help!

Stetsonbu,

You’ve asked some great questions here. The answers to which have no quick and dirty answer. Pricing for an LMS can vary greatly depending on what your needs are and how you decide to structure your relationship with the LMS vendor. Many companies offer a variety of pricing arrangements and packages making it difficult to compare apples with apples.

That being said, here are a few items you’ll want to consider. On-demand solutions, as oppose to custom solutions or client servers, usually have the least upfront cost and can be deployed in weeks rather than months. You’ll find some companies offer a life time licenses-you buy it, you own it, you maintain it. Others act somewhat like your utility service and you can “rent” usage for a specified time (yearly, monthly, etc). The benefit here is that as they grow and develop your product will develop—think Sales Force.

Pricing comes down to the options you require for your company. I can’t stress enough how important it is to define what your needs are before you start looking so that you can shop with those priorities in mind. If you want to have a conversation about your specific needs I’d be happy to try and point you in the right direction. Feel free to contact me, Gillian Riley at 912 655-4485.

Jason,

Gillian made some good points.

One reliable low cost LMS is CourseMill. It was created for Lectora, but you can put anything you want on it.

If you are comfortable with open source, there's always Moodle. I've done some research into getting a Moodle system up and running and the costs aren't that bad.

Good luck,

Jay

Thanks Gillian! Let me do some more research and will contact you if I have any further questions.

Jay - thank you too! I'll check out CourseMill.

What is the approx. cost to get Moodle up and running? How do they charge (e.g. per user, etc.)?

Stetsonbu,

I have thoroughly researched many LMS providers over the last 4 months and recently purchased one.

I'd be more than happy to discuss with you what I have uncovered.

I can be reached at 928-541-9775.

Steve Leon
The HighTop Company
www.hightopco.com